According to a story in the LA Times, Hulu — the web-based video streaming service — will begin to charge $9.95 a month starting around the end of May for premium content.

According to the proposal, while Hulu would still offer the previous five episodes of shows like Glee, Lost or Saturday Night Live for free, to see a larger back catalog, one would have to pay. This is because, while the service has thankfully become profitable in the last quarter or two, it’s still not making enough to satisfy the major networks who are providing them with content.

Now there are a few angles to this, depending on how and how much you use Hulu. I honestly don’t use it that often, as I have a DVR and other methods *wink* of getting TV shows and what not. However, other people tell me they don’t have cable TV at all, so to them this would be an attractive option to watch a lot of TV shows.

I guess for me, it would depend on many factors. Would paying $9.95 a month get rid of the commercials now used on Hulu? Would this help expand their content base considerably, to where I might use this instead of the amazing amount of content Netflix has available for streaming?

These are just some of the things to think about, I suppose, when considering signing up for a subscription to Hulu. For someone like me who has satellite TV and Netflix, it’s not likely worth it, but for others it might be a no-brainer.

What do you think?

Edit: According to The Christian Science Monitor, Hulu will still show commercials to paid subscribers, which, to me, kind of kills my interest in it and makes it less viable.